Coaches

Like millions of others I endured last night's England match against Algeria. I actually only lasted until a quarter of an hour into the second half, before turning the sound down and watching a Michael Portillo documentary on the BBC iPlayer, which was just as boring but without the sense of expectation that an England World Cup campaign inevitably drags along with it.

At the end of the game, I pondered on why such a talented group of players should fail to perform... and so spectacularly. Many possible reasons, but the role of the coach is definitely one of them. Mr F Capello comes with good credentials - played and coached at the highest level, so he knows what he's about. But he has 2 tasks - first, pick the right players, and then put them in a context where they can play better than they should be able to.

This is how England won the Ashes under Michael Vaughan - on paper, they were significantly inferior to the Australians. But Vaughan managed to get them to play at around 110% nearly all the time, and the Aussies only made around 90% of what they could do. Add in a touch of fate, and they won - despite coming within two deliveries of losing, in the Second Test.

And from all the bits and pieces of news, it seems as though Capello hasn't done this - an interview with David James (who is no fool) today made it clear that he tolerated but did not appreciate the coach's habit of late naming of the team. If a player can't get his head in the zone at this level, performance will suffer - and it didn't sound like James at least could do this the way Capello handles him.

So to Martin Johnson. When he was made coach of the England team, I sent my DVD of the England World Cup Final to the Chief Executive of the RFA as a futile protest against the sacking of Brian Ashton. It seemed to me that they'd just booted out a proven coach who was doing OK, and put in their hero - who had no coaching credentials at all. Now, Johnson was a superb player - on the field, the win over Australia was mostly down to him, to my mind. But Clive Woodward created the context for him and the team to perform in. And now Johnson's record is significantly worse than either of his predecessors. It seems that although he understood what it was to perform at the top flight, he can't help others do so.

So what is a coach for? - if he selects the team, then that's clear. But if he just guides and prepares them, maybe a performance specialist is all that you need. Someone with knowledge and experience not of the game, but of how to perform beyond your normal level. There are plenty of these people involved in sport, but only as advisors to the main men. Maybe they should replace the main men?

At least they don't have much to beat - last night's game would be a great place to start for a new regime.